Story ID: 3070913alerts
Charter Demand Flattens But Rates Still Fluctuate
By: Charles Alcock
Caption: 
Word Count: 215
Demand for executive jet charters looks set to remain stable on both sides of the Atlantic, according to the latest data from online charter portal Avinode. On July 2, the company’s forward-looking index for the following 30 days showed demand almost unchanged compared with a month earlier in the company’s light-, medium- and heavy-jet categories. In the U.S. and Canada, the medium-jet segment showed a modest rise in demand, with the index increasing over the past month from 108.6 on June 2 to 110.2 on July 10. In all categories apart from light jets in Europe, all aircraft tracked by Avinode saw a slight increase in projected demand in the 12-month period since July 2, 2012.

Charter rates are less consistent. Avinode’s tracking of three aircraft types shows fluctuations over the past six months, ranging from an increase of almost 10 percent in average hourly rates and a dip of almost 3 percent. For example, the flight-hour rate for a Hawker 800 in North America was €2,978 this past June 30, which was 5.3 percent higher than the average rate three months earlier and 9.3 percent up on the rate recorded six months earlier.

By contrast, in the European market the Bombardier Challenger 604’s average rate of €4,886 was 3.2 percent down compared with March 31 and 2.6 percent down on December 31 last year.